Dear friends, denizens, and supporters of the Bread Labyrinth near and far,

Two years ago today, on October 1st of 2022, we opened the bread labyrinth to the world with our first 48 cardamom buns baked up sixteen at a time in our little home convection oven. The first bread table on Old Las Vegas Highway came the following week and with it also the uncertainty––could a little table full of bread in a little dirt lot perched on the sunny beach of the Galisteo Basin, nestled between the highway and the interstate, ever possibly receive enduring notice?

With luck, time, and much wonderful word of mouth, you all have noticed. One table has become three tables. Four dozen cardamom buns have become eight dozen. These days every inch of space in the car is packed full with totes of bread loaves, sheet pans of pastries, paper sacks, signs, tables and a pop-up canopy that everything stays tightly in its place when bumping up and down the hills of our steep dirt road on the twelve minute drive from the bakery to the yard. What a treat it is, to see you all gathered in the lot (even on those days when I worry dearly and wonder at your patience as I arrive 25 minutes late :/) and to be trusted as your baker.

We have grown. It is no longer just me and the sourdough starters behind the ‘we’ when I write to you. The bread labyrinth has become more than my solo hectic, branching to-and-fro through the wee hours of the night in the attempt to escape into into the world with a bounty of bread to set on the table. It is has become a place to teach, to learn, to support and to connect with others. It certainly has become my anchor in my hometown world of Santa Fe. And I sense it that for many of you too it has become a gathering place to share with one another a spirited excitement for all things bread.

I write to you today to ask you to take a leap of good faith for the future of this little bakery. As we prepare for the start of our third season of baking this November, we are seeking to raise $8,000 to add a second bread oven, a wonderful Rackmaster RM2020, to our bakery in order to keep up with the growing demand for our breads, and to allow the head baker (yours truly) a few prized hours of sleep, away from the oven, during the course of our nights of production. Although I wish I could afford it alone, I must admit that in this step along I could use your help.

Over the coming month of October, I am hoping to raise $8k to go towards purchasing a second bread oven, and I would like to ask you to consider making a donation today in support of our goal. To officially begin our month of fundraising, we will be hosting a special bread table give-away tomorrow, Tuesday the 1st of October 1st, from 11am to 3pm. In celebration of our biennial anniversary and in profound gratitude for all of your support this far, we will have a panoply of favorite treats to share with you: Pretzels, Cardamom Buns, Simit, German Raisin Buns and Schokobrötchen––all on the house, i.e. free of charge. Although we are not asking anything for the bread itself, we would love for you to consider making a donation to our fundraising campaign.

All donations of $30 or greater will receive a handwritten postcard of gratitude from me on my coming trip to Germany in October: each on the topic of a particular german bread, cake or pastry. Each postcard will also function as a voucher for a free cardamom bun or other sweet treat of your choice upon the start of our baking season in November.

Donations of $60 or greater, in addition to the postcard and cardamom bun voucher, will also receive a voucher for loaf of our country wheat or house rye loaves, redeemable at the bread table anytime.

Donations of $150 or more: will receive all of the benefits above but will receive a punch-card voucher redeemable either for 1 whole Mountain Rye loaf or 1 full tray of Focaccia. (May be redeemed all at once or slice by slice over time. Mountain Rye is available whole, halves, or quarters. 6 slices of Focaccia per tray.)

Donations in excess of $300 will receive all of the above benefits and additionally a bread labyrinth membership for our 2024-2025 entitling you to 10% off all purchases at our bread table or online store.

Finally in thanks to and remembrance of each and every donor, we will add your name (or anonymously if wished) to a plaque to be displayed in the bakery for posterity.

Do please stop by the bread table tomorrow to say hello and enjoy a treat on us, and also consider sharing this page with someone you know may have been moved by our work in the past and looks forward to a future of our bread in the seasons to come.

Sincerely,

Warren Peterson, owner and baker in the bread labyrinth.

on September 30th, 2024